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FOREWORD 

This little historical sketch of the town of Duxbury has been 
prepared with the view of interesting motor guests in our tradi- 
tions as well as in the town of today. Tourists are advised to 
visit Captain's Hill and Monument, the Standish House, the Old 
Cemetery and the John Alden House, also note the large number 
of old square houses of the early shipmasters. 

In preparing this pamphlet I am indebted to my late father, 
Laurence Bradford, for much material which I have taken from 
his Historic Duxbury. 

The photographs appearing in these pages were furnished 
through the kindness of my friends, and I desire to show my 
appreciation to Miss Mary C. Winslow, Mr. Paul C. Peterson, 
Mr. Percy L. Walker, Mr. F. B. Knapp and Mr. E. C. Hultman. 

G. B. 

Duxbury, Mass., March 10, 1920. 



Copyright 1920 
•Br GERSHOM BRADFORD 




STANDISH MONUMENT 



Historic Duxbury 

The Town Today 



Lying- near the western cusp of the crescent of Cape Cod is a 
beautiful and venerable arm of the sea. It lies like a jewel of 
bluest blue, banked by the fairest of lands and only separated 
from the sea itself by a thread of shimmering sand. Over its 
shores romance hangs like a veil, through which can be seen in 
the mind's eye figures of other days dating backward to the earli- 
est times. In this procession of the past are notable figures, 
mostly mariners, and among them hundreds of world-end navi- 
gators who sailed in many unknown seas. Columns of fighting 
men marched out for every war, worthy followers of their first 
cownsman and America's earliest military leader— Captain Myles 
Standish. Ships, too, passed out, like personalities, in an endless 
stream to whiten distant seas, and make Duxbury a byword in 
the realm of commerce; for was she not the home-port of the 
Weston fleet, the largest in the world ? 

The history of the Plymouth colony would indeed be tarne and 
colorless but for the picturesque figure of Standish and his per- 
sonal prowess ; the rule of the colony would have been less saga- 
cious and hardly as successful without Brewster with his wisdom 
sitdng at the counsel table; and the bright and tender touch of 
romance would have been lacking but for John Alden and 
Priscilla. These were the first settlers of Duxbury, and proud 
should be a town to have sprung from such colonial celebrities. 

Duxbury of today is a place of healthful rest and recreation— 
a happy playground and a sanatorium endowed by Nature; for 
where is sea-water so bright and pure, and where is air so fresh 
and tanged so richly of the sea; or, if you wish, a mile or two 
away, with the balming scent of piney woods? Her sons and 
daughters, frazzled in the world of industry, whether they have 

5 



Historic Duxbury. 

wandered far or near, return as to a mecca for pleasure and for 
health, perhaps to retire, but ultimately to rest in the friendly land 
of their fathers. It is indeed the oldest summer resort m the 
country ; for Standish, Brewster and the Aldens at first returned 
to Plymouth for the winter that they might enjoy the pleasures 
and opportunities of a more metropolitan community. 

The motorist driving through Duxbury 's quiet, elm-arched 
streets litde suspects, if a stranger to local history, that Plymouth 
County was the Delaware of America a hundred years ago and 
more. Ships were built in almost every desirable nook and Dux- 
bury was a hive of industry. Not only were many vessels built 
on its banks, but the quality of the production brought lasting 
fame to the town and set a standard for their competitors to 
strive to attain. The remarkable percentage of sailors hailing 
from this town before the Civil War is a point of distinction. 
The population, never -over three thousand, furnished at one time 
forty-three deep-water shipmasters and over sixty fishing skip- 
pers, not to mention mates, seamen and fishermen. The skill, 
abiHty and high character of Duxbury's early sea officers has set 
a high standard for her subsec[uent seafarers to live up to. 

Another claim to fame is offered through those delectable deni- 
zens of the bay that have so prolifically multiplied in the flats as 
to bring the trade name of Duxbury Clam on every menu in the 
country ; a term much abused, but apparently used when some- 
thing particularly good in the line of shellfish is to be served. 

So to the motor visitor there is offered the beauties of varied 
landscapes and the healthful sports that attend them. Should he 
be interested in the past or be an antiquarian, Duxbury will de- 
tain him and give pleasant amusement. 

Our shore line, eight miles in length from Cove Street to the 
westerly side of Captain's Hill, is thickly scattered wdth pleasant 
and attractive homes, and designated ''The Point," ''The Village," 
"Hall's Corner," and "The Standish Shore." From Hall's Cor- 
ner to the Kingston line a road runs up and down among the hills 
and meadows near the sea, full of wild beauty and charm, called 
Border Street. 

From Captain's Hill or standing ni the belfry of the first 
church, one sees before him the apparently unbroken sweep of the 
Duxbury woods as far as the eye can reach. These woods are in- 



Historic Duxbury. 

tersected with winding, puzzling roads that lead to the pretty little 
villages of Island Creek, Tinkertown, Tarkiln, West Duxbury, 
Ashdod, and Crooked Lane, or North Duxbury. In these woods 
are many pretty ponds. Driving from Kingston on Tremont 
Street, one comes suddenly from the woods to a simple and appro- 
priate Soldiers' Monument, which tells of the brave sons of Dux- 
bury who fell in the Civil War. And among the white stones of 
the cemetery many little flags wave over their graves. Near the 
cemetery stands the Unitarian Church, a large, handsomely pro- 
portioned building, capable of seating eight hundred persons. The 
Town Hall stands near by, and the Partridge Academy, named 
for its donor, George Partridge, a highly respected townsman who 
was born in 1740, graduated from Harvard College in 1760, was 
a member of the Continental Congress and of the Congress of the 
United States, and was for thirty years high sheriff of Plymouth 
County. Why these important buildings were placed in this quiet 
spot is a question that naturally comes to the mind of a stranger, 
and the explanation seems to be that this is about the geographi- 
cal center of the town, "and the intention was to accommodate 
everybody." 

Another institution of pride is the Public Library on St. George 
Street, presented to Duxbury by the late Mrs. Georgianna B. 
Wright. Mrs. Wright, her family and others have given many 
books, and these donations, with testamentary bequests and dona- 
tions, make a very fair collection. 

The Congregational and the St. John's Episcopal churches are 
in the village on Washington Street, and are of the usual type of 
country churches built in this century. Tremont Street runs from 
near the Marshfield line to Kingston, and is the longest street. 
It has been taken by the Commonwealth for a State road, and is 
now the great automobile thoroughfare between Boston and the 
Cape. Washington, a very pleasant and attractive street, runs 
from Powder Point to Captain's Hill, near the shore of the bay, 
and from it branch pretty little roadways down to the water's 
edge. Our bay is a remarkably fine one for boating, owing to its 
sheltered situation and the absence of deep water renders ideal 
conditions for small yacht racing; and there are many places of 
interest for the voyager to visit. 

For many years the yacht races have attracted much attention 



Historic Duxbury. 

and brought many people to the place. The extensive flats which 
appear at low tide are somewhat of an impediment, as many an 
inexperienced boatman has cause to know. It has been called : 

"The Bay of great surprises, and unexpected lands, 
Which, when you least desire them, roll up their golden sands." 

It is a fact that the constant ebb and flow of the tide helps to 
keep the harbor clean and healthful. There are places along the 
coast where there is but slight movement of the tide. Those who 
have been to these places and have seen the dead and stagnant 
water along the shore, would appreciate this great advantage. 

There is a flourishing yacht club with a splendid modern club- 
house on the shore near the foot of Harrison Street, and many 
very lively regattas and pleasant dances are held during the sum- 
mer months. This club in its early history was patronized by 
the celebi;ated actress, the late Fanny Davenport, who had her 
residence here. 

This is Duxbury of today, a quiet place of natural and charac- 
teristic beauty ; and many come and come again, lingering until 
the leaves begin to fall and the chilly winds interrupt the serenity 
of their country life. 

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods, 
There is rapture on the lonely shore, 
There is society where none intrudes, 
By the deep sea, and music in its roar. 
Time writes no wrinkle on its azure brow. 
Such as Creation's dawn beheld, it rolleth now." 




Historic Duxbury. 

the town and early settlers. *♦ 

The Pilgrims settled first, as is well known, along Leyden 
Street, in Plymouth, from the shore to Burial Hill, where they 
had built a fort. Palisades were built on each side of this street, 
allowing room for gardens, gates being placed at two side streets. 
The fort in the rear, and the bay as an opening in front, would 
be considered a good military position. Soon, however, their 
numbers so increased that it became necessary to separate, >more 
land being needed for pasturage and cultivation. They scattered 
around the bay shores, keeping as near to each other! and to 
Plymouth as practicable.. , 

The Indians had been greatly reduced in numbers in this locial- 
ity by a plague, and the few remaining do not seem to have been 
much at home on the water, as we find little mention of their 
canoeing ; while the English were notably more or less sailors, 
choosing their lands near the sea, and showing reluctance to move 
inland, the interior of Plymouth and much of Duxbury being un- 
settled to this day. Captain's Hill early attracted attention, with 
its wide views of the surrounding country, its very fertile soil 
and easy access*to Plymouth. Standish, Brewster and Alden are 
thought to have settled here as early as 1630, or before,, and soon 
after others made their homes about what was called Morton's 
Bay, at the head of which the first meeting-house, ras the church 
was called in those days, was built, about 1637. Tl^C; earliest set- 
tlers returned to Plymouth in winter, as the record says, "to in- 
sure their better attendance at public worship," and' for fear of 
attacks by the Indians in this exposed situation. In about 1632 
.he Church was gathered, the first' offshoot of the .Plymouth 
Church. The old record says: *Tn the year 1632 a' niLjmb^r/ of 
the brethren inhabiting on the other side of the bay, at a pfece 
since called Duxborough, growing weary of attending the wor- 
ship of God at such distance, asked, and were granted a dismis- 
sion, and soon after being embodied into a Church they procured 
the Rev. Ralph Partridge, a gracious man of great abilitieSj,ito ]^ 
the^r pastor." \ , 

The town was incorporated June 7, 1637, old style, or June' 17, 
1637, new style. This is the record of the enactment by the Gov- 
ernor and t|is, Council of the Plymouth Colony: **>I,t.is,<.en^(jted)ib^ 

8: 



Historic Duxbury. 

the Court that Ducksborrow shall become a township, and unite 
together for their better security, and to have the privileges of a 
town, only their bounds and limits shall be sett, and appointed by 
the next Court." The name Duxbury, though spelled in various 
ways in early times, probably came from Duxbury Hall, one of 
the country seats of the Standish family in England. Some good 
•authorities differ, however, from this opinion. The locality was 
known to the Indians by the euphonious name Mattakeeset which 
has been carried by several ships and now has been happily per- 
petuated in the name of the Lodge of the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows of the town. 

Among the early settlers mentioned by the historians are the 
following : 

John Howland, who moved to town at an early date, having 
had grants of land at Island Creek Pond, also two small islands 
at Green Harbor, called Spectacle and Ann Islands. He seems 
afterwards to have returned to Plymouth, where he died in 1672. 
A stone of slate on Burial Hill marks his resting-place. The fol- 
lowing mishap befell him on the voyage over, as related by Brad- 
ford : "In a mighty storm a lusty young man called John Howland 
was with a heele of ye shipe throwne into ye sea, but it pleased 
God y't he caught hould of ye top saile halliards, which hung 
overboard, & rane out at length, yet he held his hould though he 
was sundrie fadomes under water, till he was hald up by ye same 
rope to ye brime of ye water, and then with a boat hooke, and 
other means got into ye shipe againe, and though he was some- 
thing ill with it, yet he lived many years after, and became a 
profitable member both in church, and comone wealthe." George 
Soule, a passenger on the "Mayflower," was a man who did good 
service to the town, frequently serving in the Court of Deputies, 
and holding other offices, which prove him to have been a man of 
ability ; and he left a numerous posterity, who have since been an 
honor to the town. He was granted land at Powder Point. 

In 1637, of the twenty-seven heads of families who came in the 
ship "Fortune" in 1621, the following became proprietors of land 
in Duxbury: Robert Hicks, Thomas Prence, Moses Simmons, 
Philip Delano, Edward Bumpus, William Palmer, Jonathan Brew- 
ster, Thomas Morton and William Basset. The name Delano is 
evidently of French origin, and was originally spelled Delanoye ; 

10 



Historic Duxbury. 

some say De la Noye. The progenitor is said to have been a 
French Protestant who joined the Church at Leyden. He was a 
land surveyor, and much respected. He owned lands at Mill- 
brook. 

The first physician of Duxbury was Comfort Starr, who came 
here about 1638, but afterwards moved to Boston ; Samuel Sea- 
bury was another physician who came here before 1660. William 
Collier, one of the merchant adventurers in England, came over 
and settled near Standish and Brewster about 1635. He also had 
land at North Hill. 

George Partridge came to Duxbury about 1636. He was a re- 
spectable yeoman from the County of Kent, England, where he 
owned an estate. He was the ancestor of the George Partridge 
who founded the Partridge Academy. Lands were granted him 
at Powder Point, Green Harbor, Island Creek and Millbrook. 
Henry Sampson was a young man who came on the ''Mayflower," 
but was too young to sign the compact. He was admitted a free- 
man in 1637, and had a large family, whose descendants are 
numerous and respected in the town today. Constant Southworth 
was a son of Alice Southworth, who came from England in 1623, 
and soon after married Governor Bradford. He was an active 
and enterprising townsman. Christopher Wadsworth was the 
first constable of Duxbury, an office that required a man of abil- 
ity and honesty, and it is said "a perusal of the records will at 
once assure us of his worth and respectability, which his numer- 
ous descendants in every generation have well retained." Ed- 
mund Weston, an enterprising ancestor of a noted family, came 
in 1639. He lived at Millbrook and Green Harbor, and was the 
progenitor of the Ezra Westons, the celebrated owners. 

The following is a list of freemen in 1646, the earliest of which 
there is any record : 

John Alden, John Paybody, 

Wm. Basset, George Partridge, 

Wm. Brett, Ralph Partridge, 

Thomas Besbeech, Abraham Peirce, 

Love Brewster, Joseph Rogers, ] 

Jno, Brewster, Mo^^ses Symonson, 

Roger Chandler, Constant Southworth, ■ 

Edmond Chandler, Comfort Starr, 

Wm. Collier, Captain Standish, ' 

Job Cole, George Soule, 

II 



Historic Duxbury. 



Philip Delano, 
Lt. Wm. Holmes, 
Thomas Heyward, 
Henry Howland, 
Wm. Kemp, 
Experience Mitchell, 
Samuel Nash, 



Henry Sampson, 
Francis Sprague, 
John Tisdall, 
Stephen Tracy, 
Wm. Tubbs, 

Christopher Wadsworth, 
John Washburn. 



It must be confessed when writing of this old town that one 
necessarily dwells on the past, and those of us who are natives 
are somewhat susceptible to the criticism of an English author 
writing of Plymouth : "That the present inhabitants lived on the 
reputation oi its first founders," but in reply we might give the 
words 6 f/ one of his greatest countrymen. Lord Macaulay, from 
whose History of England this quotation is taken : "A people 
which take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ances- 
tors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with 
pride by remote descendants." 




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■ Historic Duxbury. 

CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISH. 

"In the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the land of the Pilgrim, 
To and fro in a room of his simple and primitive dwelling, 
Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cordovan leather, 
Strode, with a martial air, Myles Standish, the Puritan captain." 

He was born in 1584, in the county of Lancashire, England, 
and belonged to the Standishes of Standish Hall, and was the 
only one of the ''Mayflower" Pilgrims of high descent, according 
to the laws of England. His family dated back to the time of 
the Conquest, and is in existence there today. Many were 
knighted and ennobled by peerages during their long existence. 
Their estates are very valuable in mines and land in this country, 
near the village of Chorley, where exists the ancient church in 
whose vaults lie the bodies of many members of this ancient fam- 
ily and the ancestors of Myles Standish. 

Many years before his time the family had divided into two 
branches : one the Standishes of Standish, and the other that of 
Duxbury Hall or Park ; and the family early divided in their 
religious beliefs, that of the Standishes of Standish being Roman 
Catholic, and those of Duxbury Hall being Protestant. Capt. 
Myles came from the family of Standish of Standish, and that 
he was heir to some of the family estates there is no doubt, as he 
claimed them himself and left his right by testamentary bequest 
to his son Alexander, and this son in his turn bequeathed his 
right to his children. Perhaps the Captain was less skillful in 
obtaining his legal rights than in fighting his enemies with more 
deadly weapons. 

It is said that the litigation between the two branches of the 
family was old even in Capt. Myles' time; that when one side 
got an advantage of possession over the other, they would de- 
stroy all the legal evidence that might help their opponent, and 
that one suit was in the Courts of Chancery for three hundred 
years. 

Of the early life of Capt. Myles Standish we know little. The 
first mention of him is that in Queen Elizabeth's time he held a 
commission as Lieutenant in the English forces that were fight- 
ing the Spanish in the Netherlands, and it was during the truce 

13 



Historic Duxbury. 

that existed between the combatants that he joined the Plymouth 
Pilgrims. It appears that he never joined the Pilgrim Church 
strictly as a church member ; but, be that as it may, he fully and 
entirely cast his lot in with theirs, and rendered them inestimable 
service from the time of his joining them till the day of his death. 
He bore not only all of their hardships ; but, as Bradford par- 
ticularly mentions in his history, was one of those who nursed 
the others through their sickness and sore straits during the first 
winter. He was their military savior on numerous occasions, as 
is told in the various histories of the Plymouth and Massachu- 
setts colonies ; and he was not less efficient in shaping the civil 
policy, being constantly on the Board of Assistants to the Gov- 
ernor, and serving in many other capacities connected with the 
infant Colony. He was chosen the attorney of the English Com- 
pany under the Royal Charter of the Great Patent of New Eng- 
land to transfer to the Plymouth Settlement a charter of their 
proprietary rights in 1629, this document being in existence today, 
preserved in the Registry of Deeds office in Plymouth. 










GRAVE OF MYLES STANDISH. 



14 



Historic Duxbury. 

He joined the Pilgrims at Leyden with his wife Rose, not long 
before the sailing of the "Speedwell," and was with the settlers in 
Plymouth after the landing, till he removed to Duxbury, which 
may have been before 1630. Captain Standish settled on a bluflf 
overlooking Plymouth, the site of his house being known, and of 
unquestionable authenticity. Here Captain Standish lived till his 
death, on Oct. 3, 1656, being seventy-two years old. Secretary 
Morton, recording his death, says : *'He, growing very ancient, 
became sick of the stone or stangullian, whereof, after his suffer- 
ing of much dolorous pain he feel asleep in the Lord, and was 
honorably buried at Duxbury." The accompanying sketch shows 
the original appearance of Capt. Standish's grave with the famous 
three-cornered stones by which it was described in early records. 
These stones were the guide of the investigators who eventually 
were able to locate his skeleton in 1889. 

Although at an advanced age, shortly before his death he was 
appointed to lead an expedition against the Dutch in the New 
York Colony War about to break out between the Dutch and 
English, which was avtrted by one of Cromwell's victories. He 
had held the position of Captain Commandant all of his life, never 
for a moment losing the confidence of the Colony. 

Captain Myles Standish was the agent of the Town of Dux- 
bury for buying what is now the Bridgewater towns and the Ci'y 
of Brockton, or a part of them, which was called Saughtucket. 
He made this trade wi^h Ousameguin, Sachem of Pocanorcket, 
for the following articles : Seven coats, nine hatchets, eight 
horses, twenty knives, four moose-skins, ten and one-half yards 
of cotton, twenty pounds in money. This sale was dated March 
23, 1649. 

One of the swords of Myles Standish is in Pilgrim Hall, 
Plymouth, having been presented to the Pilgrim Society by one 
of the Standish heirs in 1824. This sword has had quite a his- 
tory, according to a Jewish gentleman who visited Plymouth some 
years ago, and wrote this description, which is here appended : 



15 



Historic Duxbury. 



INSCRIPTION AND HISTORY OF THE SWORD OF MYLES STANDISH. 

This sword is, without doubt, of ancient Persian manufacture, called by 
the Orientals Dharban ; viz., meteor, and the material of which it is made 
is thunderbolt iron. There is not the least doubt that this sword fell into 
the hands of the Saracens at the time of the defeat of the Persian tyrant 
warrior, Kozoroi, when Jerusalem was wrenched from him by the Khalif 
Omar I., 6v37. The inscriptions and emblems show clearly the above 
facts. On closely examining the sun and moon engraved on the blade, it 
will be seen that faces were engraved inside the sun and moon; and on 
closer examination of the faces, it will be noticed that the engraver did not 
intend to represent them as human, but lions' faces. History says that the 
sun, moon and stars were worshipped by the ancient Persians as the celes- 
tial deities of strength and power, the sun predominant and the lion the 
terrestrial emblem of the sun, whose head, surrounded by his shaggy mane, 
resembles the deity he represents. 

The present Persian coat-of-arms is derived from the mythology of their 
predecessors ; the sun rising on a lion's back, crowned with the moon and 
with a circle of stars around her. 

Ancient swords and other weapons were said to have often been made 
from meteoric iron, and it has always been believed by the ancient as well 
as the modern Orientals that that material had an invaluable virtue of good 
luck in it, and a charm to its possessor. It is said by Arab historians that 
the prophet (Mohammed) and his successors were armed with Dharban 
swords; that when grasped against the enemies of the religion of the faith- 
ful, the warrior had nothing to do but face the enemy, — the sword would 
do the destruction. It was believed by them that the virtue of the metal 
would strengthen them against the fatigue of the muscles, and charm their 
lives from the attack and thrust of the enemy. 

The three inscriptions as seen on the blade (one on the same side with 
the Persian emblems and the other two on the other side) were engraved 
by the Mohammedans, and at a much later period than the Persian 
emblems. They are each different in hand and form. The first named of 
the two is the Mediaeval Cufic. 

The interpretation is "With peace God ruled his slaves and with judg- 
ment of his arm he gave trouble to the valiant of the mighty or cour- 
ageous" — meaning the wicked. On the reverse side of the blade are the 
two above-mentioned inscriptions, part of one of which only can be de- 
ciphered. "In God is all might." The last line that resembles Roman 
numerals is not intended for a date, as one would be led to suppose, but 
is of private signification, not known to anybody excepting the possessor 
who had it engraved. The same with the other on the same side with the 
Mediaeval Cufic. No one can decipher it as this is the key to the charm, 
and when once deciphered by anybody besides its real owner, it becomes 
as valueless as a reed. Before closing our remarks, let us notice above 
the two separate inscriptions, and here we find engraved again a com- 
bmation of circles intending to represent fire, and a conical shaft to remind 
one of the meteoric metal of which the blade is made. 

i6 



Historic Duxp.ury. 

N. B. — It is not to be wondered at, then, that European and American 
scholars have failed to decipher, the above. Even a medium Arabic 
scholar, and he more advanced than any foreign scholar in the vernacular 
language of his country, cannot decipher all the modern handwritings 
without giving an especial time and hard study, the Arabic language being 
so divided in itself, unlike any other in the world. Anyone brought up in 
one calling cannot decipher the hand of others ; and it will at once be seen 
how difficult and impossible it would be for any professor or scholar to 
master a language that needs almost a lifetime to acquire it perfectly. 

Having endeavored to serve the owners of this valuable relic of the past 
in giving a faithful interpretation of the inscription thereon, 

I remain with the greatest respect their obedient servant, 

James Rosedale, of Jerusalem Holy. 

What he might have done on a larger field of action it is im- 
possible to say, as it is w^ith most men; but if his actions and 
ability are to be judged by the services that were rendered to the 
English race, his talents were very great; for if this beginning 
of making a colony had been crushed, it would not only have set 
back the progress of the English settlement for a long time, but 
would have set back freedom and liberty to a far greater extent. 




wi^'ko'^cTj^^j^...,.-:^ ^'-•' 



17 



Historic Duxbury. 



ELDER WILLIAM BREWSTER. 

"Learning is more profound 
When in few solid authors it may be found. 
A few good books digested well do feed the mind." 

Brewster was one of the best educated, if not the best, of those 
who came in the "Mayflower." There being no regular minister 
for the Church, for some years he acted in that capacity as the 
Church elder. He was one of the oldest of the leaders, being 
fifty-six at the time of the landing. He came from a highly 
respectable family in England, and had done much there and in 
Leyden to build up the Church which the Pilgrims formed. The 
record says that in the year 1632 lands were allotted to Brewster 
in Duxbury adjoining those of Captain Standish, and northerly 
from his, on the Captain 's Hill peninsula bordering on the bay, in- 
cluding what from that day to this has been called ''the Nook." 
Here was erected his dwelling, the site of which is pointed out 
in a northeasterly direction from that of Captain Standish. He 
lived here till his death in 1644, ministering often in the Plymouth 
and Duxbury churches. 

He was a scholar when scholars were rare, having entered, and 
received a degree from Cambridge College in England. The 
books of his library show what his scholarship must have been. 
He left four hundred volumes ; sixty-four were in Latin, and 
thirty-eight of these were versions of the Sacred Scriptures. 
Among the works in the English language were many large folios 
and quartos, some of them having sixteen hundred pages. What 
has become of this large library is not known. There is one vol- 
ume or more in the Yale College Library, and very likely others 
in the old libraries of New England. An elaborate life of Brew- 
ster was written by the Rev. Ashbel Steel in 1857. 



18 



Historic Duxbury. 



JOHN ALDEN. 

"The blue birds in the spring 
Sing their sweet welcoming, 

To rouse and charm ; 
Where first John Alden came, 
Their haunt is still the same, 
Still bears its Pilgrim name : 

John Alden's farm." 



John Alden was one of the youngest of the "Mayflower" pas- 
sengers, being only twenty-one when he came. He was not one 
of the Church either iii England or Leyden, but was hired at 
Southampton, where the "Mayflower" was fitting, as a cooper, 
to serve the Colonists for one year. Some say he was smuggled 
aboard by some of the adventurers. Anyway he chose to remain 
with the Settlement, and became a valuable member. Directly 




19 



Historic Duxbury. 

after the landing the Settlement was divided into families for 
convenience in providing for the whole, and Alden was assigned 
to the family of Captain Standish, which gave rise to the roman- 
tic legend that has been told and retold in prose and poetry 
ever since : that the Captain sent him with a proposal of mar- 
riage to the young and comely daughter of Mr. Mullins, and 
that he fell in love with the maiden himself. However that may 
be, he early in the year wedded the fair Priscilla, whose name 
and renown has reached our day, and whose fair face is seen 
in many noted pictures. Alden proved all his life a worthy ac- 
cession to the community, filling various offices of trust and re- 
sponsibility, until he died at an advanced age, Sept. 12, 1686, 
and was at his death the last surviving signer of that original 
compact of government made in the cabin of the "Mayflower" 
at Cape Cod, November, 1620, which President Lincoln said 
"was the foundation of the Republic." Alden early came to 
Duxbury, — it is said in 1631, and settled on land which had been 
allotted to him near the tidal head of Bluefish River, near the 
salt marshes and what was called Eagle-tree Ford, made by a 
fresh-water brook called Hounds-ditch, just before its conjunc- 
tion with the river. He built his house on a small knoll, and the 
site of it is now marked by a stone recording the fact. Ac- 
cording to Windsor's History of Duxbury, the second house 
stood a little further to the westward, and the present house, 




20 




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Historic Duxbury. 

erected by his grandson, Col. John Alden, is still further towards 
the west. It is a remarkable instance for this country that this 
farm has been held by one family from the first settlement to 
the present time, and the name also has been perpetuated, so that 
the poetical quotation at the head of this chapter is literally true, 
"Still bears its Pilgrim name, John Alden's farm." Alden's 
Bible is in Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth, having the Anno Domini 
1620. Alden's autograph is very rare, notwithstanding the many 
times he must have written it on public documents. He probably 
is buried in the Old Cemetery, as his son, Johnathan Alden's, 
stone is standing there today. 



21 



Historic Duxbury. 



CAPTAIN'S HILL AND STANDISH MONUMENT. 

A native of Duxbury holds a peculiar affection for the monu- 
ment crowning the hill that rises near the site of Captain Myles 
S andish's house. It is a landmark of home, a welcome object 
for the mariner coming on the coast as well as for the toiling 
fisherman setting his offshore trawls. 

This handsome memorial to the Pilgrim captain was erected 
largely through private subscription, and the indefatigable efforts 
of the officers of the Standish Monument Association. The cor- 
nerstone was laid in 1872, but it was not entirely completed until 
1898. 

The dimensions are : 

Diameter of base 28 feet 

Diameter of top 16 feet 

Height from foundation to parapet 116 feet 

Height of statue on top 14 feet 

The monument is constructed of rough gxanlte from the 

Hallowell quarries, llie arch of the entrance is built by stones 

contributed by the several New England States, and bear their 

names. The keystone was presented by President Grant, and 

represents the United States. 

Captain's Hill, on which the monument stands, was part of 
the farm given Cap:ain Standish by the Plymouth Colony. At 
its foot in plain sight is the place where stood his house, where 
he lived until his death ; and the house said to have been built by 
his son in 1666 still stands near by. 

The hill is about two hundred feet above tide water, and is 
the highest eminence in the vicinity. It has had a history apart 
from and since the time of Standish, as it was used as a place for 
signalling in the Revolutionary and 1812 wars, and a few years 
back was clear of trees and underbrush, when used for pastur- 
age, as at that time cattle were more plentiful than now. 

"Scenes must be beautiful which daily viewed, 
Please daily, and whose novelty survives 
Long knowledge, and the scrutiny of years, — 
Praise justly due to those that I describe." 

From the summit of this hill a fine view is given of the bay, 
islands and various places of historic interest in the vicinity, as 

22 



Historic Duxbury 

we follow around by the points of the compass until we have 
completed the circle, noting the objects in view and the location 
of o.hers not so plainly seen. 

Becrinning at the Duxbury Light, that lies below us in a south- 
easterly direction at the mouth of Duxbury and Plymouth bays 
and marks the end of a shoal that leads out from the poj^ts of 
land to the northward. This lighthouse was not built till lX/1. 
This side of the light is a deep area and good anchorage ground 
called the Cow Yard, which was much used in stress of weather 
in former times, and considerably at present. Turning now to 




the eastward, and bearing a little south of east these hjhlands 
lie in a bunch,-Saquish Point, Clark's Island and Gurnet Head. 
The nearest Clark^s Island, was named for the mate of the 
'^Ma>rwe^^ who was said to be the first to place foot upon it 
on Saturday. Dec. 19, 1620, two days before the land^^^^^ 
Plymouth. This was an exploring party from the Mayflower, 
then lying in Cape Cod Harbor. 

The island contains eighty-four acres of good soil and is 
much used for pasturage; it has been held mostly by one family 
since 1690. In range with Clark's Island, and about two miles 
distant is the Gurnet, a widening out of the beach, and much 
higher in elevation, something like f^fty feet aLove tide water 
which has a good soil, and in early times was wooded. The 
name Gurnet first appears in Winslow's Relation, printed in 

23 



Historic Duxbury. 

1622, but where it gets its derivation is not known. The point 
was early called "the Gurnet's Nose." It has about twenty-seven 
acres, now considerably built upon by summer sojourners. At 
the Gurnet's Nose there are two lights called the Gurnet Lights, 
which are much used by vessels proceeding to and from he 
Cape Cod Canal. The first lighthouses were built here by the 
Province in 1768; these being burned in 1801, others were built 
in 1803, and the present structures were built in 1842. 

This has always been a favorite place for a fort. There was 
one in 1776, having six guns from six to twelve pounds' calibre. 
In 1812-15 the fort was mounted with some forty-two pounders, 
and during that time was the quarters of a large garrison. In 
the Civil War a new fort was constructed mounting more effi- 
cient and heavier guns, and styled Fort Andrews. Many believe 
that the ''Norsemen" visited this headland, as it is told that in 
1003 Thorwald wintered in about the latitude of forty-one to 
forty-two, which is thought to have been in Narragansett or 
Buzzard's bays. The next spring he cruised along an extended 
promontory, the description of which answers well to that of 
Cape Cod ; within this peninsula he found a great bay, and upon 
the western side of the bay came to a fine headland. Later on 
he was mortally wounded by the natives, and requested that he 
be buried on the headland, which is thought by the aforemen- 
tioned to be Gurnet Head. 

The southern end of this group as it appears from our point 
of view is Saquish, and the outermost, Saquish Head ; this 
promontory was in early times an island. It contains about 
fourteen acres of land, and is also used for pasturage, it being 
well situated for the purpose, and the soil being good. 

The name Saquish is of Indian origin, and means a sort of 
clam, or perhaps is a corruption of an original word. In early 
times the clam was very plentiful on the shores of this peninsula. 
In the Civil War there was a small fort built here by the Gov- 
ernment, and named Fort Standish. 

Continuing our view from the northern end of Clark's Island 
in range almost due east, is the beginning of Duxbury beach 
proper, connecting with the Gurnet peninsula. This stretch of 
beach extends in a northwesterly direction about five miles, where 

24 



Historic Duxbury. 

it joins the higher lands of Green Harbor. In early limes it 
was called Salt-house beach, but the former name is now almost 
universally used. This beach is a long extension of sand dunes 
bare of vegetation, except beach grass, and has had the same ap- 
pearance from the earliest times, except a small knoll called High 
Pines, about one-third the way from the end of Clark's Island 
towards the bridge in visual sight. This knoll has now a small 
growth of stunted trees, but formerly had a large growth of 
pitch pine, which gave it its name, as early, it is said, as 1637. 
About a mile out to sea from this knoll is High Pines Ledge, 
where manv vessels were lost in past times, more than now, as 
the greater draft of modern vessels makes them keep away from 
our shores. 

A little north of the range from the northern end of Clark's 
Island, over tlie beach, at a distance of twenty-three miles, on 
the end of Cape Cod is the town of Provincetown, the Pilgrmi 
Monument and even the town-house which can be seen on a 
clear day, and the shores of the Cape reaching southerly. Cape 
Cod was named by an early navigator, Bartholomew Gosnold, in 
1602, because of the quantities of that fish which he saw m the 
vicinity. 

In a direction about northeast from our point of view is the 
bridge that leads from Powder Point to the beach. This is half 
a mile in length, and was built by the town and private parties in 
1892. A little farther towards the north is Rouses' Hummock, 
quite a high, wooded knoll that was named for one of the first 
settlers in' earlv times. The beach in front of the hummock was 
selected in 1869 as the landing place of the French cable and 
until recently afiforded cable connections wi^h St. Pierre, Mk\., 
and Brest, France. In range wi^h Rouses' Hummock is Powder 
Point, an early settlement of the town, where the Ezra Westons 
carried on their large businesses. The wharf is still there, and 
some of the buildings, now the property of Mr. F. B. Knapp. 

In the same range is the mouth of Bluefish River, named early 
in the settlement. It is a tidal river heading in the marshes 
back of the village, but also fed by brooks coming from the in- 
terior of the town. Shipyards were along the lower part of this 
river, and it was here above the bridge on Washington Street 
that the shipping was hauled up the river in the 1812 War, to 

25 



Historic Duxbury. 

get it out of the way of an attack by boats from English frigates 
that were cruising outside the Gurnet. To guard the shipping, 
a water battery was built at the mouth of the river on a small 
peninsula, mounting two twelve-pounders, and a few hundred 
feet above, near Fort Street, back of the present post-office, was 
a small fort mounting three six-pounders : guns were also placed 
at other points along the shore, all manned by Duxbury men ; 
and besides this force there was a garrison of State troops at 
the Gurnet. Nearer to us, about a mile distant, is the chauteau- 
like residence of the late Fanny Davenport, called Melbourne 
Hall. Continuing around in a northerly direction we pass over 
the long reach of marshes that lie between the towns of Dux- 
bury and Marshfield, and almost due north four and three- 
quarters miles distant is the home of Daniel Webster, where he 
lived and died ; and in the neighborhood of his home and burial 
places are the historical places of Marshfield. 

Continuing around to west of north is the spire of the fourth 
building of the original Church that was gathered in 1632. This 
is also the site of the third building, that was built in 1787. Al- 
most in direct range is the old cemetery, or burial place, near 
where stood the first and second buildings of the same Church, 
built respectively in about 1635 and 1706, and where the grave 
of Myles Standish is, the fort-like monument now built over it. 
Reaching up towards this burial ground, bearing more to the 
northwest from us, is Morton's Bay or, Hole. Winsor says, in 
his history, that the name comes from a hole in the flats that can 
be seen near the mouth of the bay, on a chart, westerly from 
this hill. Quite as likely the word "hole" applies to the bay, a 
common definition in early times along the coast for what would 
now be called a bay. This bay and the shore adjacent was very 
much used by the first settlers as their landing place, in their 
communication with Plymouth. 

To the southwest lies the coast used in early times for ship 
building, and salt-making by pumping up sea-water into tank 
by windmills. 

• A quarter of a mile ofi^ this shore on the flats, and a mil 
from our ])oint of view, are the Cripple Rocks. They are pai 
ticularly noteworthy, as rocks are scarce on the coast here b( 
tween Manomet Blufifs and Cohasset. These are shown on t' 

26 



Historic Duxbury. 

n-.ap made in the middle of the eighteenth century, and we are 
sure they are the same often noted by the first settlers ; and are 
somethin.o- we can feel certain appear the same as when first 
discovered. 

Retracing back to observe objects more distant, one can see 
in a northwesterly direction a high hill, probably one of the Blue 
Hills : and about in the same range the first church m Pembroke 
md the Whitman water-tower. The town of Pembroke was 
aken from Duxbury in 1711. Some little further over to the 
west can be seen the wa^er-tower of Brockton, and bearmg about 
west the water-tower of Brldgewater on Sprague's Hill. 

A little further south, about southwest, lies the mouth of Jones 
River named for ^he captain of the "Mayflower." At the head 
of the estuary part of the river lies the attractive town of King- 
ston reaching out of which can be discerned the spire of the 
first' church, one that would be considered old in any other part 
of the country, alihough it was not gathered till 1720, and the 
town not incorporated till 1726. Further on to the south is die 
Plymouth village of Seaside, where is located the largest rope 
walk or manufactory in the country ; so here is something modern 
mixed in with the old landmarks. Further on and almost due 
south is the National Pilgrim Monument, that was longer in 
buildino- than our monument here. Further, a little southeasterly, 
lies the town of Plymouth, with all the interesting objects con- 
nected with that ancient town. 

Further on southeasterly lies Plymouth Beach, or Long Beach 
This long neck of land suffered very much in the great storm ot 
Nov 27 1898, when houses and hillocks were carried away by 
die breakers. About southeast in visual sight between the end 
of Long Beach and Saquish Head, and on the ocean side of them, 
lies Brown's Bank, or Shoal, and in the same range over six 
miles distant is Rocky Point and the hills o Manomet, which 
answer the description of the coast given by Mrs. Hemans: 

"The breaking waves dashed high ^^ 
On a stern and rock-bound coast. 

These highlands were known and commented on by the early 
navigators before Plymouth existed In this ^.^^^^ ^^^^f ' ^^^- 
tween the heads of Plymouth Beach and Saquish, is Duxbury 

27 



Historic Duxbury. 

Light ; that was our starting-point in the visual pilgrimage we 
have made around the circle. We have still a few places to note 
a^ our feet, in the foreground on Captain's Hill peninsula. The 
tract of land lying to the eastward was without doubt the ancient 
farm of raider Brewster, and the site of his house is about in 
that direcLion. Looking aroiuid more to the south, about in 
range with Duxbury Light, is a bluff by the shore covered with 
bushes. This is the site of Myles Standish's house. A quarter 
of a mile nearer to us is the house of Alexander Standish, son 
of the Captain, said lo have been built in 1666. 




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28 



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Historic Duxbury. 

sixty days, yet even in the lower holds the skins were dusty. 
The Goddard was then over twenty years old, having been built 
near Mr. James K. Burgess' boat house in 1879. 

The following quotations have been made to bear testimony 
and corroborate the claims made for these men and their ships : 
The late Hon. E. S. Tobey once said : "To speak of the character 
of the numerous first-class ships which have been built here, 
would be to recall the names of the best mechanics and skilled 
artisans of the whole country. To speak of the men who com- 
manded those ships, would be to make honorable mention of in- 
telligent and eminent navigators who, with the flag of the Re- 
public at the masthead, guided their ships into nearly every com- 
mercial port of the habitable globe." • 

Again in the words of the late Hon. George B. Loring, whose 
love for the town never grew cold : 

'*To my youthful ear the sound of a hundred hammers in the 
early morning hours, when a day's labor began at sunrise and 
ended with the summer sunset, was a music which I can never 
forget, and which we shall probably never hear again. A Dux- 
bury ship was to me a barge of beauty, and whatever achieve- 
ments may be made in naval architecture, the names of Sampson, 
and Weston, and Drew, and Frazar, and Loring, and Winsor, 
will outshine, in my mind, all the McKays and Curriers and Halls 
that ever launched a ship on the Merrimac, on the Mystic, or on 
the shores of Noddle's Island, and will share with John Roach 
the fame of those American shipbuilders whose vessels defied 
the storms of ocean and resisted the destructive tooth of time. . . . 

Quoting from Miss Lucy Porter Higgins in the Americana 
Illustrated : "We are told that Duxbury vessels were noted for 
durability, superior models, and excellent workmanship." It was 
a sufficient recommendation in the market to know that a ship 
was Duxbury-built. The name on the stern ensured a sale, and 
any seaman who hailed from that town could ship at any port, 
on any craft, without other credentials. Many of the people 
have held high rank as merchants, and a considerable numbei 
have been Atlantic ship-owners. 

The writer will take the liberty of quoting portions at lengtV 
from an article published in the Old Colony Memorial of June 
1895. This article was written by Captain John Bradford, as- 

30 



Historic Duxbury. 

s!sted by his daughter Mrs. Ellen B, Stebbins. Captain Brad- 
ford was among the most able and respected in the list of Dux- 
bury shipmasters ; he began as a boy in E. Weston & Sons rope- 
walk and rose rapidly to the command of their finest and largest 
ship the ''Hope." 

"It is one who can claim a modest place among these ship- 
masters, and whose memory extends back to about 1830 or 1832, 
who has taken pleasure in recalling and describing the scenes 
of his boyhood and early manhood among the busy shipyards of 
his naive town. 

By degrees the wants of the early settlers gave rise to new 
branches of industry, but we find no record of what was long 
the leading business of the town, prior to the year 1720, about 
which time Thomas Prince is said to' have established the first 
yard within its limits for the building of vessels, on the westerly 
shore of the Nook, at the foot of Captain's Hill. The first vessel 
built there was a sloop, constructed mostly of wild cherry. The 
second yard was owned by Israel Sylvester, on Bluefish River ; 
the third by Benjamin Freeman at Harden Hill, a short distance 
north from the Nook, and near the extreme southeastern part 
of the town. 

Perez Drew owned the fourth yard, location not known. 

Samuel Winsor, the first of the name in Duxbury, and Samuel 
Drew together carried on the fifth yard, on the shore of the 
Nook westward of Captain's Hill. Samuel Winsor had previ- 
ously, about 1745-50, built several small vessels on Clark's Island. 

The sixth yard was established by Isaac Drew at the west side 
of the Nook. 

John Oldham had a yard at Duck Hill, in the northern part 
of the town, not far from the Marshfield line, where now it is 
mostly salt meadow, and the creeks are nearly filled with coarse 
sedge. 

There was still another shipyard carried on by Capt. Samuel 
Delano below the mouth of Bluefish River, on the west side. 

These yards had nearly all been abandoned before 1830, and 
were succeeded by the following, of which the writer has per- 
sonal recollection : 

31 



Historic Duxbury. 

At the extreme southwest part of the town, between Captain*s 
Hill and the mouth of Jones River in Kingston, and not far from 
the residence of Harrison Loring, Mr. James Soule had a ship- 
yard, where he buih what were then considered good-sized ves- 
sels, but which would now be called small. He gave up the busi- 
ness before 1840, I think. 

The yard of Benjamin Prior, on the southeast part of the town 
shore, near the Nook, was occupied by Ezra Weston, and there 
Samuel Hall buih for him several ships. Because of the large 
size of the vessels built there, it was familiarly known as the 
"Navy Yard." 

The ship "Mattakeesett," built about 1833, of 480 tons, whose 
first commander was Capt. Briggs Thomas, was the largest mer- 
chant vessel that had then been built in New England. Mr. 
Weston about 1834 established his yard on the southerly side of 
Bluefish River, where Samuel Hall, and after him Samuel Gush- 
ing, built for him a large number of vessels. 

I recall the names of ships "St. Lawrence," "Admittance," 
"Vandalia," "Eliza Warwick," "Oneco" (in which I made my 
first voyage, 1839), "Hope." I was a boy on board of the 
"Hope" when she was launched, in 1841, and nine years later 
took command of her. She was then (1850) the largest mer- 
chant ship in New England, and took the largest cargo of cotton 
(3,100 bales) that had ever been taken from New Orleans. (A 
picture of this vessel was exTilbited at the World's Fair, Chicago, 
1893.) 

The ship "Manteo," built about 1843, was the last vessel built 
for the Westons (E. Weston & Sons, Gershom B. and Alden B. 
Weston, at that time, Ezra Weston, Sr., having died the previous 
year). There was also a large fleet of brigs and schooners, of 
which I recall brigs "Neptune," "Margaret," "Smyrna," "Geres," 
"Levant," "Oriole," "Messenger," "Lion," and schooners "Dray," 
"Seadrift," "Virginia," "Triton." 

Luther Turner had his yard adjoining Mr. Weston's on the 
east, where he built small vessels. 

Next to Mr. Weston's on the west was Mr. Levi Sampson's 
yard. He built vessels for himself and for Boston parties. One 
ship that was being built about 1835 for Mr. Thomas Lamb of 
Boston, caught fire while on the stocks, and was very nearly 

32 



Historic Duxbury. 

destroyed, while the "Admittance," in Mr. Weston's yard, was 
in great danger. 

Previous to 1838 another yard was situated where the Odd 
Fellows Hall now stands, and was operated by Mr. Seth Sprague, 
familiarly known as "Squire Sprague." The vessels built there 
were small, and were launched across the highway into the dock 
alongside the wharf next to W. S. Freeman & Co.'s store. 

About 1837 or 1838 Samuel Hall built for Mr. Lamb the ship 
"Narragansett," and for Phineas Sprague & Co. the ship "Con- 
stantine," in a yard established by him on the east shore of the 
village, just north of the "Navy Yard" before mentioned. In 
1840 he removed to East Boston, where he was one of the 
pioneers in the business, and remained for many years a noted 
shipbuilder. 

A short distance north of Mr. Hall's yard w^as that of Nathaniel 
and Joshua Gushing, where they built vessels for various parties. 
The only name that I recall is that of the barque "Maid of 
Orleans." 

The building of a drawbridge and dam in 1803 across Bluefish 
River formed a mill pond above, on which, at the northwest end, 
was the yard of Samuel A. Frazer (originally that of Israel 
Sylvester), where he built a large number of vessels for himself 
and various other parties. The peculiar name of one was "Hitty 
Tom," after an old Indian squaw who formerly lived in the 
neighborhood. He also built the first ship, "Hoogly," for Daniel 
C. Bacon of Boston. 

Deacon George Loring's yard was on the southeast part of 
the pond, near the bridge ; he built mostly for Gharles Binney of 
Boston, and his son, G. J. F. Binney. I recall only the names of 
brig "Gynosure," ship "Grafton," and barque "Binney." I re- 
member that the "Grafton," being very narrow and crank, cap- 
sized two or three times while they were getting her out of the 
river. The vessels launched from this yard and Mr. Sampson's, 
just below the bridge, went plump into the opposite meadow as 
soon as they were off the ways. 

Mr. Sylvanus Drew's yard was on the north side of Bluefish 
River. His sons, Gaptain Reuben and Mr. Gharles Drew, suc- 
ceeded him after his death, about 1830, and they were followed 
by Sylvanus Drew, son of Gharles, and he by William Paulding, 

33 



Historic Duxbury. 

who built many vessels in the yard, mostly barques and brigs, 
for the Philadelphia and Baltimore lines and the Mediterranean 
trade. The vessels that I remember as being built there by the 
Drews were ships "Rambler," ''Aldebaran," ''Boreas," "Min- 
erva," "Chilo," "Susan Drew," "George Hallett," "Kedron," 
"Isaiah Crowell" ; barques "Eunomus," "Mary Chilton," "Her- 
silia," "Kensington," besides several brigs and smaller vessels. 
The last three vessels built by Mr. Paulding were the "Minnette" 
for a Mr. Prior, and the "Olive G. Tower" and the "Mary 
Amanda" on his own account. The last mentioned was named 
for his granddaughter, Mr. Geo. Bates' eldest daughter. He 
ceased operations in 1867. 

N. Porter Keen, who had previously worked for Mr. Paulding 
from 1868 to 1875, occupied the yard formerly used by Mr. Levi 
Sampson, below the bridge on Bluefish River. He built the last 
full-rigged ship built in Duxbury, the "Samuel G. Reed," launched 
in 1869, and commanded by Capt. Henry Otis Winsor. This 
ship is now the barque "Fantee." Other vessels built by Mr. 
Keen were the barkentine "Benjamin Dickerman," which was 
about a year on the stocks, and was launched in 1875 ; the "Mary 
D. Leach," a whaler ; a small schooner, the "I tell ye" ; a sloop, 
name unknown; while the last vessel (the "Henry J. Lippett") 
ever built by him in this yard was, though a schooner, one of the 
largest vessels ever built in Duxbury. 

Owing to the mishaps and difficulties attending her launching, 
she was dubbed by one of the local wits "Keen's Elephant." She 
was launched in an unfinished condition, and when she left the 
ways she went fully forty feet into the opposite marsh. 

About 1870 or 1871 John Merritt, Amos Merritt, and Warren 
Standish reopened Mr. Paulding's yard, and built a schooner, 
the last vessel built in that yard. They then went over on the 
village shore to about the location formerly occupied by Samuel 
Hall, where they built the schooners "Annie S. Conant" and 
"Addie R. Warner." The latter was built for Philadelphia par- 
ties, for the fruit trade; she was rigged and fitted completely 
ready for sea while yet upon the stocks, but was lost at sea soon 
after she was launched. She was the last vessel built in that 
yard. The Merritt brothers separated from Standish, and at 

34 



Historic Duxbury. 

fi new location, just soti^h of this, on the land of Calvin Josselvn, 
they built in 1878 or 1879 the barque "Thomas A. GoddardJ' 
the last vessel ever built in a Duxbury shipyard. 

This rapid enumeration will give some idea of the general 
distribution of the shipyards in which centered the energy and 
enterprise that made Duxbury for so many years the leading 
town of Plymouth County. To emphasize the fact of the great 
activity during its ''palmy days," we have the statement of the 
veteran stage-driver "Jake" Sprague, that on a certain day in 
May, 1838, as he drove from Plymouth to negotiate the purchase 
of the Duxbury and Boston stage route and property, he counted, 
between the "Navy Yard" (near where the late Fanny Daven- 
port's house now stands) and the Mill Pond, eighteen vessels in 
course of construction. 

It will be observed that while most of the older yards were 
established in the neighborhood of the "Nook," or that part of 
the town nearest Plymouth, the later ones were clustered quite 
closely together on the shores of the Mill Pond and Bluefish 
River. 

From the li'tle schoolhouse on Powder Point we young folks 
could hear the clatter and clangor of six shipyards all in full blast 
within less than a quarter of a mile. 

The nearest shipyard to the schoolhouse was the Drews', which 
was a double yard, where often two vessels were building at once. 

The county road ran between the yard and the water (of 
course), so that at launching time the ways had to be laid across 
the highway, and all teams were obliged to go up through the 
yard around the vessels on the stocks. Of course school always 
adjourned for such an important event, which took place gener- 
ally about 11 A.M. (high water, spring tides, full and change of 
the moon). 

The rope walk (in which Capt. Bradford worked as a boy) was 
part of a system of industries carried on by the Westons, with- 
out a somewhat extended notice of which no account of Duxbury 
shipbuilding could be regarded as adequate. Ezra Weston, the 
second of the name, and inheriting from his father the popular 
title of "King Caesar," was for the years 1820 to 1842 probably 

35 



Historic Duxbury. 

the most widely known citizen of Duxbury, and was considered to 
be the largest shipowner in the United States. Daniel Webster 
so rated him in his great speech at Saratoga during the Harrison 
campaign of 1840. (Captain Clark in his Clipper Ship *'Era" 
states that the Westons owned a fleet very close to one hundred 
sail.) 

His ships were then to be seen in all parts of the world. He 
not only built his own vessels, but he controlled nearly all the 
branches of business connected with shipbuilding and the owner- 
ship of vessels. He had his own ropewalk, sparyard, blacksmith 
shop and sail-loft ; brought his timber and lumber from Haver- 
hill and Bangor in his own schooners, or from Bridgewater and 
Middleboro with his own ox or horse teams, and his supplies 
from Boston in his own packet. 

His salt came from Cadiz, St. Ubes, and Turk's Island in his 
own brigs. He sent his schooners to the Grand Banks for fish 
in the summer time, and "out South" in the winter for corn. 

He owned a large track of land on Powder Point, and here, 
on the south side, where Bluefish River widens into the bay, with 
the outlook towards Captain's Hill and Plymouth, stood his 
dwelling-house. Here still remains "Weston's wharf," where 
his new vessels fitted out, and where his packets loaded and 
unloaded, but sparyard and sail-loft, blacksmith shop and rope- 
walk have all disappeared. 

The old Weston homestead was destroyed by fire a few years 
since, and the more modern mansion built by him 1808-9 is now 
(occupied by Mr. F. B. Knapp. Several miles inland towards 
Pembroke Mr. Weston owned an extensive farm, where his 
farmer raised a large part of the vegetables used on board his 
vessels, and of the beef and pork needed for sea-voyages. 

It is worthy of note that during this period of industrial ac- 
tivity Duxbury furnished not only ships, but men to sail them. 
Nearly every Duxbury-built vessel was officered by men who 
had been born within the sound of axe and mallet, had served 
an apprenticeship at sea from boyhood, and knew a ship "from 
keelson to truck." 

Mr. Weston's captains were mostly from Duxbury or the 
adjoining town of Marshfield. 

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THE CLAM. 

"Inglorious friend ! Most confident I am 

Thy life is one of very little ease; 

Albeit men mock thee with their similes, 
And prate of being 'happy as a clam !' 
What though thy shell protects thy fragile head 

From the sharp bailiffs of the briny sea? 

Thy, valves are, ^yre, no safety valves to thee 
While rakes are free to desecrate thy bed, • .; . 

"And bear thee off, as foerhen take their spoil. 

Far from thy friends and family to roam ; 

Forced like a Hessian from thy native home 
To meet destruction in a foreign broil! i 

Though thou art tender, yet thy humble bard 
Declares, O clam, thy case is shocking hard !" 

Duxbury is known by this bivalve where Myles Standish was 
never heard of, and where the stories of the grey fathers, if ever 
heard, would be considered myths ; yet it you wotild go further 
in a literal sense, the old saw of faring worse, niight be reversed ; 
as the writer's father once foimd years ago when in an out-of- 
the-way place on the California coast, he was asked, on making 
it known that he was from the Eastern States, if he had ever 
seen the place where those Duxbury ships were built? This was 
too far for even the delicious flavor of the clam to have been 
wafted. 

Perhaps in the homelier vein, too much praise can scarcely be 
given to this denizen of the flats ; without him the wisdom of the 
early governors would have failed ; the piety of Elder Brewster 
have had a short duration; the martial valor of Myles Standish 
have been uselessly exercised against the enemies of the weak 
and struggling Colony, and John Alden's pastoral virtues never 
have reached an appreciative posterity. 

What orators and essayists ascribe to an all-wise Providence, 
was justly due to the clam, or the higher influence working 
through him; in other words, his claims were not acknowledged 
in the sequence. It was the clam that nurtured the infant Colony, 
which is said by some to have contained the seed of the Republic, 
and prevented it from following the fate of like enterprises in 
other parts of the country. 

Daniel Webster, who lived just over the line in Marshfield, as 

37 



Historic Duxbury. 

mentioned before, was a devotee to the excellence of clam chow- 
der, often treating his distinguished friends to that famous dish ; 
on such occasions, it is said, he would not permit his cook to 
mix the ingredients and cook the chowder, saying that a clam 
chowder was too easily spoiled to allow an unskilled hand to 
make it. 

The ancient glories of the Duxbury clam have now somewhat 
departed. We are told the sinful marketmen in the cities palm 
off on unsuspecting purchasers a spurious article, that has never 
hailed the Gurnet Lights at low water; be this as it may, we do 
not now see for sale the large sized white-shelled article that 
once abounded in the markets. The demand exceeds the supply 
and they are sought so assiduously that they rarely have time to 
reach maturity. It is not easy to protect them ; it is the same 
old story that is connected with the protection of any marketable 
product. In the case of the clam, those who wish to protect them 
do not dig them, and those who personally dig, or market them, 
prefer the present gain to some prospective profit, which they 
themselves can never hope to realize, or so they think ; and also, 
that if protected, some other fellow will get ahead of them. You 
may say the game is protected ; and so it is with the choicest 
kinds of fish ; for the simple reason that those who hunt or angle 
for them are interested in their preservation. 

"O clam, how humble is thy state, 

In mind, and form, and soul so low; 

What thought on thee may we bestow, 
And what of eminence relate? 
To sustain a gormand's palate ! 

And all thy excellences sure, 

Simply to please an epicure ! 
Can we of thee no more relate? 
Tales of yard-arms in combat crossed, 

Of Duxbury's ancient fame, 

Shall ne'er be mingled with thy name; 
Nor valiant ships in cyclones lost. 

But thine a greater glory yet : 

A mighty nation to beget." 



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Historic Duxbury. 



SOME DISTINGUISHED CITIZENS ' 

Capt. Benj. Church 

Duxbury was the residence of two of the greatest military men 
of the early colonial days, for, next in reputation to Captain 
Myles Standish was Benjamin Church, the captor of King Philip, 
the native warrior who made such distressing ravages on the out- 
post settlements. 

Captain Church lived in this town from about 1668 to 1680, 
moving from Plymouth, where he was born about 1639. He 
lived in the vicinity of Duck Hill, Millbrook. 

The captain's courage, skill, prudence and military strategy 
brought to him a reputation almost equal to that of Standish. 

In his later life he resided at Little Compton, Rhode Island, 
where in 1718 he was thrown from his horse, and having grown 
very stout, suffered fatal results by bursting a blood vessel. 
Winsor, the historian, states that "he was buried with great 
pomp and parade." 

Major Judah Alden 

Another military celebrity of Duxbury was Judah Alden, who 
served through the Revolution as a Captain, and was breveted a 
major. He was born on the old John Alden Farm on October 
2, 1750. At the outbreak of the war he was one of Duxbury's 
minute-men, and was attached to Cotton's famous regiment in 
1775 as an ensign. In 1776 being commissioned a second lieu- 
tenant he was transferred to Colonel Bailey's regiment, where he 
served during the first years of the war. He was appointed a 
captain in 1777. 

Captain Alden was distinguished for his skilful use of arms 
and for his prudence as an officer. He was possessed of great 
strength, which accompanied a splendid physique and eminently 
qualified him as a leader of men. He was an intimate and con- 
fidential friend of General Washington, of whom he always 
spoke in praise. 

Major Alden was given the honor of the presidency of the 
Massachusetts Society of Cincinnati from 1829 until his death in 
1845. 

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Historic Duxbury. 

; Captain Gamaliel Bradford 

The subject of this sketch was one of the most picturesque 
characters of Duxbury, and was notable for his achievements. He 
was born in 1763, and at the age of fourteen years accompanied 
his father, Colonel Gamaliel Bradford, to the war. He served 
throughout the struggle and was present as a lieutenant at New- 
burg in 1783, when General Washington bade farewell to his 
officers. He there enrolled as an original member of the Society 
of Cincinnati. 

After the war he turned to the sea for a livelihood and in the 
command of merchant ships earned a splendid reputation as a 
shipmaster. 

In 1798 he was honored by President Adams, who offered him 
command of the Boston frigate, but Captain declined and ,con- 
tinued in the merchant marine. 

In the following year he successfully sustained an attack^by 
three French privateers, and in 1800 repulsed two similar attacks, 
one of which proved a very spirited struggle of one and a half 
hours, in which the captain received a wound causing the loss 
of his leg. In spite of his handicapped condition he made later 
voyages, retiring from the sea in 1809. 

A series of interesting letters written home on his voyages by 
Captain Bradford have recently been published, after being edited 
by the writer of this pamphlet. 

Captain Gamaliel, after leaving the sea, was appointed warden 
of the State Prison, and for some years served in this capacity. 
On one occasion putting down a mutiny without seeking aid 
beyond his own natural command of men. 

He died in 1824 at the age of sixty-one years. 

Captain Amasa Delano 

There were very few ship-masters in the early days possessed 
with the ability to write a good narrative, but Captain Delano 
was a great exception and gave to posterity a book known as 
Delano's Narratives, from which we are able to get first hand 
details of the conditions in the merchant marine at that time. 
• This book was published in 1817 and is descriptive of his 

40 



Historic Duxbury. 

various voyages and the people whom he met in the different 
parts of the earth. He sailed around the world three times, and 
visited countries and peoples then or now not generally known. 
His description of the lower Pacific coast and the Oriental islands 
is particularly fine. He tells of the settlement and inhabitants 
of Pitcairns Island better than most writers, getting his infor- 
mation from original sources; though it is a subject that has had 
the attention of noted authors, including no less a one than Lord 
Byron. His remarks on the sailing, navigating and repair of 
vessels are instructive, not only to those who are familiar with 
sea life, but for the ingenuity often shown they are of profit to 
all. 

Captain Delano apologizes for his language as indicating his 
lack of an academic education ; but he need not have done so, for 
one would seek long before finding an academician who could 
express himself in so graphic a manner, and in a way to so 
fascinate his reader. The book is a quarto of nearly six hundred 
pages, and is now, of course, out of print and rarely seen. 

The thrillino- eoisodes of this book have been used as the basis 
of at least two novels which brought much prominence to the 
writer of them. 

Colonel Ichabod Alden 

Captain Alden, although without previous military experience, 
excepting militia duty, was one of the first to "resort to means 
of violence for the protection of those privileges bequeathed to 
him from his ancestors." 

He became lieutenant-colonel of Colonel Cotton's regiment, 
and was later promoted to the rank of colonel. After the battle 
of Saratoga in October 17, 1777, he was stationed with a regi- 
ment of the Continental Army at a place called Cherry Valley 
in New York state. Here a fortification was erected by order 
of General Lafayette. There were many rumors of attack as 
the season advanced which proved groundless, leading Colonel 
Alden into the great error which caused the loss of many lives, 
including his own. 

A friendly Oneida Indian, having learned of the proposed as- 
sault from one of the Onondagas, brought warning of a coming 

41 



Historic Duxbury. 

attack. The Colonel took precautions, but discredited the in- 
formation and did not follow sufficiently the dictates of pru- 
dence. Early one morning after a light fall of snow, which 
turned to rain, with a cloudy atmosphere, the post and adjacent 
town was surprised by a vicious attack led by the noted Mohawk 
chief, Brant, and a Captain Butler, with seven hundred loyalists. 
The ferocious Senecas were the first to fall on the town where 
most of the officers were quartered, and the greater part of them, 
with many women and children, perished with savage cruelty. 

The Colonel himself, refusing to surrender, vainly snapped 
his pistol in the face of an assaulting Indian, and fell before the 
unerring aim of his tomahawk, and was scalped. As the his- 
torian, W. S. Stone, Esq., says, ''had he been as prudent as he 
was brave, might have averted the tragic scenes of that hapless 
day." 

Mr. Lewis M. Bailey 

A character almost totally unlike the preceding, but which 
may be thought scarcely less interesting, is that of the subject of 
this sketch. Mr. Bailey began his life, not as the others in the 
Old Colony, but among the vine-clad hills of France, and in the 
French colonies, where he lived until after the Bat^^le of Water- 
loo, in which he participated as one of Napoleon's officers. Later 
he came here and settled at the cross-roads, where Tremont, 
Chestnut, Evergreen and Tobey Garden Streets meet ; and this 
place has since been called Bailey's Corner. He lived in the 
house now owned by Mr. James H. Peterson, where he brought 
up a large family of attractive daughters, and a son who now 
lives in an adjoining house. The latter preserves the sw^ord that 
was on the world's eventful battlefield of Waterloo, where his 
father received a saber cut on his head, necessitating the trepan- 
ning of his skull and the insertion of a piece of silver, a surgical 
operation that could not, at that time, have been long practiced. 
Mr. Bailey's life in Duxbury was as quiet as it had formerly been 
eventful. He was a cigar-maker by occupation, and carrying his 
wares to Boston by vehicle must have been his most exciting 
diversion. He died at his home in 1864. 

Hon. George Partridge 
This is the town's most eminent citizen during its long life. 
He was born here in 1740; graduated froni college in 1762; after- 

42 



Historic Duxbury. 

wards prepared for the ministry, which he was obhged to give 
up because of an affliction that prevented him from speaking 
easily in pubHc ; then a teacher, and afterwards a merchant. 
During this time he held various public offices, from member of 
Congress to surveyor of highways in his native town, thus 
exemplifying the Old Colony and ancient Roman idea, — that a 
citizen must accept any place to which he is called by his fellow 
countrymen, without considering its desirability, emoluments, or 
otherwise. He figured prominently in the preliminary steps that 
brought on the Revolution, first as the author of an address to 
the Boston Committee of Correspondence, which was decided on 
at a town meeting held in March, 1773, to protest against "the 
violation of our chartered rights and privileges." He served as 
captain of a company of minutemen raised by the town in 1774, 
and later was a member of the famous General Court that met in 
Boston, and was by the King's command adjourned to Salem, 
and while there in secret caucus at night determined upon calling 
a Provincial Congress. Mr. Partridge was a member of this 
Congress, which met in October, 1774. 

He was chosen by the General Court on a committee to meet 
General Washington on his arrival in Cambridge to take com- 
mand of the army. 

He was delegate to Congress under the old Confederation, and 
at his death was its last surviving member, with the exception of 
Charles Carroll of Maryland,— the Charles Carroll of CarroUton 
of the Declaration of Independence. 

He was present and a member of the Congress in Annapolis, 
to which General Washington gave back that commission that 
had been given him eight years before. He was elected later a 
representative to Congress under our present Constitution, and 
died in the town in 1828, full of years and honors. 



43 



Historic Duxbury. 

THE PILGRIM TOWN OF DUXBURY. 

The following poem was written on the two hundred and 
fiftieth anniversary of Duxbury's incorporation, by the late Lucia 
Alden Bradford. 

The memories of today, 
They take us far away, 

To times long gone ; 
To times of toil and care, 
To scenes where joys were rare. 
To times of scanty fare, 

To us unknown. 

But here are homes more true, 
Myles Standish, far to you. 

Than England's Hall ; 
Though winter's storms were drear, 
Though savage foes were near. 
Yet there was Pilgrim cheer 

Within your walls. 

The Mayflower-perfumed air. 
Bore up the Pilgrims' prayer. 

For labors blest. 
In autumn's chilly dew. 
Our flower of heavenly blue,* 
Rose Standish, bloomed for you. 

In peace and rest. 

The bluebirds in the spring. 
Sing their sweet welcoming. 

To rouse and charm ; 
Where first John Alden came, 
Their haunt is still the same, 
Still bears its Pilgrim name: 

John Alden's Farm. 

Here rose the precious fame. 
Of Elder Brewster's name. 

And works of love; 
From want and woe to save, 
And blest the hopes he gave, 
Of rest beyond the grave. 

In heaven above. 

♦The fringed gentian blooms about the Standish place in October. 



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